Mott MacDonald appoints Ian Allison as head of climate resilience

Mott MacDonald has appointed Ian Allison as its global head of climate resilience services. Ian will be responsible for developing the consultancy’s advisory and policy services to help clients adapt and mitigate the impact of climate change.

Ian is a civil and water engineer with technical expertise in infrastructure planning, investment and financing strategies and project delivery. He has been involved in numerous private finance and public private partnership schemes, providing advisory services during all stages of a project’s lifecycle. Most recently, Ian was director of Mott MacDonald’s environmental consultancy, where he led a 220 strong team supporting the development of major infrastructure projects. He was also responsible for the company’s environment and climate change adaptation businesses.

The fact of global warming is unequivocal and the impacts on ecology, food production and water resources are already evident. While it’s not yet proven that the frequency of extreme events is increasing, there is evidence that their severity has increased, such as through heat waves, cold snaps, extreme rainfall or drought. Extremes of this type put added stress on the systems upon which society depends, which impact on health, water resources, crop production, transport systems and electricity generation. Data drawn from the insurance market shows a steady increase in losses due to global weather events over the last three decades and the rising trend is clear, illustrating that our physical environment is becoming steadily more vulnerable.

Mott MacDonald has first-hand knowledge of most of the world's areas already suffering the effects of climate change. Working in sectors such as science, policy, impacts adaptation, mitigation and resilience, the consultancy has specialist skills and a strong track record to reduce causes of climate change and plan appropriate responses.

Commenting on his appointment, Ian said: “There is a growing realisation of the severity of the impacts of global climate change and the need for action. There is an obvious direct link between climatic extremes and economic and social disasters on the developing world, however climate vulnerability is a pressing first world issue as well. Significant elements of the world’s economy, as well as 11 of the world’s 15 mega-cities, sit in highly vulnerable coastal zones and to stop a worsening situation we need to adapt to and manage the impacts that are already being experienced.”

“A pragmatic approach, the application of technology and innovation will all be essential components to managing the impact of more volatile climatic patterns on a growing world population. Mott MacDonald is ideally placed to be at the forefront of such work.”